After nine days at sea aboard the SS George Washington, Woodrow Wilson arrives at Brest, France, on December 13, 1918, and travels by land to Versailles. There, he headed the American delegation to the peace conference seeking a definitive end to World War I. The visit marked the first official visit by a U.S. president to Europe.

Although the president's political opponents criticized his European visit as a sign of egotism, Wilson worked tirelessly during the proceedings to orchestrate an agreement that would encourage a lasting peace in Europe. During the stay, Wilson also led the effort for the establishment of the League of Nations, an international organization designed to seek diplomatic solutions to future conflicts.

At Versailles, Wilson's hopes for a "just and stable peace" were opposed by the other victorious Allies, and the final treaty, which called for stiff war reparations from the former Central Powers, would be regarded with increasing bitterness in Germany in the years to come. President Woodrow Wilson was awarded the 1920 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to bring peace to Europe.

On 13 December 1914 in the Dardanelles, Turkey, Lieutenant Holbrook was in command of the submarine B.11, an old and obsolete craft built in 1905. Notwithstanding the difficulties of a treacherous current in the Straits, he dived under five rows of mines and torpedoed and sank the Turkish battleship Messudiyeh, which was guarding the mine-field. He then succeeded in bringing the B.11 back to the Mediterranean, in spite of being attacked by gun fire and torpedo boats. When they got back to safety the B.11 had been submerged for 9 hours.

13 December 1914 - In Sari Sighlar Bay, south of the town of Cannakele in the Dardanelles, the British submarine B11 torpedoed and sank the Turkish battleship Messudieh in difficult conditions. The commander of the B11, Lieutenant Norman Douglas Holbrook, was awarded the Victoria Cross and the members of his crew received other bravery awards. A German naval officer remarked to the American vice-consul at Cannakale, Mr Engert, that it (the sinking) had been ‘a mighty clever piece of work’.

Commander Norman Douglas Holbrook VC (9 July 1888 – 3 July 1976) was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. Holbrook was the first submariner to be awarded the VC and it was the first naval VC gazetted in the First World War. (...)

On 13 December 1914 in the Dardanelles, Turkey, he performed a deed for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross:

Lieutenant Holbrook was in command of the submarine B11, an old and obsolete craft built in 1905. Notwithstanding the difficulties of a treacherous current in the Straits, he dived under five rows of mines and torpedoed and sank the Turkish battleship Mesudiye, which was guarding the mine-field. He then succeeded in bringing the B11 back to the Mediterranean, in spite of being attacked by gun fire and torpedo boats. When they got back to safety the B11 had been submerged for 9 hours.

13 Dec 1915 engagement at Wadi el Hasheifiat (Troopers Sydney Baker and George Hicks); Light Horse padre, Captain William Devine (Roman Catholic PP St Pauls Coburg Vic) took up a rifle to protect wounded of the Royal Scots from being murdered by the Senussi, he would go on to be awarded an MC and Croix de Guerre in France. Both these actions in the general area of Mersa Matruh. With the Royal Scots pinned down an urgent heliograph was sent to the supply column for a MG section to be sent forward, so urgent was the summons that the OC of the column led a mixed group of ASC and Royal Scots Tpt Pl soldiers forward to assist. Their arrival on the flank of the Senussi caused the enemy to bolt. 5 Australians from the ASC were wounded.

Lt Claude Edward Thomas 4 Coy AASC DivTrain died of wounds received 13-12-1915 on 16-12-1915 in hospital Alexandria received GSW to pelvis which tore open bladder. He led the ASC counter attack that I mentioned on 13/12/1915. He was posthumously Mentioned in Despatches

The 1915 Royal Commission into the Administration of the Liverpool Camp.

On 1 July 1915, Richard Beaumont Orchard MP, the federal member for Nepean in the House of Representatives, delivered a scathing attack on the mismanagement of affairs he felt existed at the military training camp at Liverpool, 35 km SW of Sydney. In all he made twenty-four charges against the existing administration of the camp under the following headings:

(i) General insufficiency of equipment and training. This involved a lack of uniforms; an insufficient supply of overcoats; a shortage of rifles and ammunition; the defective condition of some of the rifles and little or no rifle practice.

(ii) Unsatisfactory medical service. Men objected to being treated by a doctor of German parentage

(iii) Poor housing accommodation. Huts are draughty and the supply of mattresses is inadequate.

(iv) Poor sanitary conditions of the camp, especially the latrines.

(v) Preferential treatment in the German Concentration Camp.

(vi) Horses without sufficient food.

(vii) Excessive centralisation and discouragement of initiative.

(viii) Miscellaneous.

Such was the impact of this attack that a Royal Commission was almost immediately set into motion. The actual site of the camp had also came under criticism in the press due to the prevalence of fogs in the low-lying area. On Monday 12 July the Prime Minister, Andrew Fisher, announced that a Royal Commission would be appointed to inquire into the charges made in Parliament by Mr Orchard. On 14 July, the Hon Mr Justice Rich, at Darlinghurst Courthouse, opened proceedings of the Royal Commission into the administration of the Liverpool camp. On 16 July he carried out an inspection of the camp site and decided to move the Royal Commission to the camp itself. Throughout the next two weeks (16-29 July) evidence was taken from 118 witnesses.

(...) On 5th October it commenced its investigations into the health aspects of the camp. On 13th December 1915 it published a report that would make astounding reading in today's climate. They declared that between 1st January and 30th September 1915, 53 soldiers had died while training at the camp.

A powerful avalanche kills hundreds of Austrian soldiers in a barracks near Italy's Mount Marmolada on this day in 1916. Over a period of several days, avalanches in the Italian Alps killed an estimated 10,000 Austrian and Italian soldiers in mid-December. The avalanches occurred as the Austrians and Italians were fighting World War I and some witnesses claim that the avalanches were purposefully caused to use as a weapon. Though there is little evidence that this was the case with these avalanches, it is possible that avalanches were used as weapons at other times during the war.

The Italians entered World War I on the side of Britain, France and Russia against Germany and Austria-Hungary in late April 1915. Over the next three years, the Italian army engaged the Austrians in a series of bloody battles in the mountainous region along the Isonzo River near the Italian-Austrian border. The conditions in the mountains were often worse than the actual fighting. An Austrian officer once said "The mountains in winter are more dangerous than the Italians." This was certainly true in mid-December 1916 when heavy snowfall in the Alps created conditions ripe for avalanches.

Hundreds of Austrian troops stationed in a barracks near the Gran Poz summit of Mount Marmolada were in particular danger. Although the camp was well-placed to protect it from Italian attack, it was situated directly under a mountain of unstable snow. On December 13, approximately 200,000 tons of snow, rock and ice plunged down the mountain directly onto the barracks. About 200 troops were pulled to safety, but 300 others died. Only a few of the bodies were recovered.

As the heavy snow and high winds continued over the next week, incidents like the one at Marmolada happened with disturbing frequency. Entire regiments were lost in an instant. The bodies of some victims weren't found until spring. The best estimate is that somewhere between 9,000 and 10,000 soldiers died by the end of December 1916 because of the avalanches.

The fall of Kut in late April 1916, when British commander Sir Charles Townshend surrendered his garrison of approximately 10,000 men to the besieging Turk force under Khalil Pasha, brought about a reorganisation of both Turk and British forces in the area.

Khalil took the opportunity to pull back his extended line by some 15km, a decision taken with a potential attack through Persia in mind (which in the event never came to pass on account of renewed British success along the River Tigris).

Meanwhile the shock of the loss of the Kut-al-Amara garrison - considered by many the greatest humiliation ever to befall the British Army - had prompted the British government in London to revise its view of the Mesopotamian Front.

Until the fall of Kut the War Office in London had acquiesced in the Indian administration's management of military affairs in Mesopotamia, even though the latter's policy of an aggressive "forward defence" had caused unease among ministers in London (notably Sir William Robertson). Now, with Khalil's unequivocal victory - and the consequent serious damage to British prestige in the Middle East - London determined to take over handling of the campaign in the region.

This resulted in the recall of the unpopular George Gorringe in the wake of his failure to relieve Townshend (although by the time of his appointment it was already arguably too late to relieve the Kut garrison). In his place was appointed the relatively junior Sir Frederick Maude, who eventually came to be recognised as the war's most successful commander operating on the Mesopotamian Front (of all sides).

Maude was appointed commander of the so-called Tigris Corps in July 1916 and, the following month, of the entire front. He immediately set about reorganising and re-supplying British and Indian forces in the region.

British strength in the region was reinforced by an influx of Anglo-Indian troops, although sickness continued to claim an inordinate number of casualties until Maude finally revamped the British system of medical supplies, virtually non-existent to that point.

By October 1916 Maude had 150,000 troops under his command, of which around half were serving on the front lines. He was determined to launch a renewed offensive against Kut before the arrival of the winter floods common to the region.

Maude's plans were not however unknown to the local Turkish commander, Karabekir Bey. Overwhelmingly outnumbered by some three-to-one he nevertheless set about reinforcing Turkish trench positions; his calls for reinforcement were however unheeded by Khalil.

Along with improvements to the British system of medical supplies great progress was made in improving transport mechanisms, a constant failing to that point. Satisfied that British preparations were approaching completion Maude requested - and after a pause was granted - permission from London for an advance upon Baghdad.

Thus the British attack was eventually launched on the night of 13/14 December 1916 on both banks of the River Tigris. Approximately 50,000 men, organised in two corps, were involved in the advance.

Progress was slow however, if sure, on account of heavy rain and an overriding concern to minimise casualties (one of London's most insistent demands to Maude). It took a full two months to clear the west bank of resistance below Kut, and included the capture of the fortified Khadairi Bend on 29 January 1917.

Crossing the Shumran bend on 17 February 1917 to the right of Turk forces, Maude launched an attack on both flanks. Karabekir Bey, overwhelmed, authorised a skilfully-managed retreat from Kut a week later on 24 February, heavily pursued by a flotilla of naval gunboats (bringing about an action at Nahr-al-Kalek), although British cavalry was unable to provide assistance while placed under fire from well-sited machine guns.

Additional difficulties were faced by the retreating Turks in fighting off repeated attacks by local Marsh Arabs, who attacked both sides at every opportunity.

The success of the British advance (which petered out on 27 February, some 100km beyond Kut at Aziziyeh) persuaded Khalil to postpone and then abandon his plans for a Turkish sweep through Persia; he also recalled a corps fighting against Russian forces in western Persia to boost his own strength.

Buoyed by his success in re-taking Kut, Maude barely paused before pushing on with the advance to Baghdad, which fell to the British the following month.

SM UC-61 was a German Type UC II minelaying submarine or U-boat in the German Imperial Navy (German: Kaiserliche Marine) during World War I. The U-boat was ordered on 12 January 1916, laid down on 3 April 1916, and was launched on 11 November 1916. She was commissioned into the German Imperial Navy on 13 December 1916 as SM UC-61. In 5 patrols UC-61 was credited with sinking 11 ships, either by torpedo or by mines laid. UC-61 was stranded north of Boulogne on 26 July 1917. The U-boat's crew flooded and scuttled their ship.

SM UB-29 was a German Type UB II submarine or U-boat in the German Imperial Navy (German: Kaiserliche Marine) during World War I. The U-boat was ordered on 30 April 1915 and launched on 10 February 1916. She was commissioned into the German Imperial Navy on 18 January 1916 as SM UB-29. The submarine sank 33 ships in 17 patrols. UB-29 was sunk by two depth charges from HMS Landrail south of Goodwin Sands on 13 December 1916.

The 1st Brigade, Imperial Camel Corps--more commonly known as the Imperial Camel Brigade--was raised on 13 December 1916 under the command of Brigadier General Clement Leslie Smith VC MC. The Brigade concentrated at Mazar on the north coast of the Sinai Peninsula on 19 December; and on the following day advanced to El Arish where it was attached to the Anzac Mounted Division. The Imperial Camel Brigade bad its baptism of fire as a brigade formation at the Battle of Magdhaba on 23 December 1916--only four days after being concentrated and l0 days after being raised.

Awarded to officers, in peace time, for distinguished service through zeal and perseverance, in war time for valour and fine leadership. The cross, in white enamel with red enamel borders, was originally instituted on 21 October 1849 by Emperor Franz Joseph I and in 1860 the "Kriegsdekoration" (War Decoration), a gilded laurel wreath appearing between the arms of the cross, was added for distinction in action. On 23 September 1914 the decoration was reorganized into three classes :

On 13 December 1916 crossed gilt swords to be attached on the ribbon were instituted while from 1 August 1917 onwards, subsequent awards of the 3rd Class could be identified by trapeze shaped, gilt bars. The obverse medaillon of the cross bears the word "VER / DIENST" (Merit), the reverse is in plain white enamel.

The only VC awarded to a professional footballer during the First World War has been sold for Ł210,000.

Donald Simpson Bell, from Harrogate, became the first player to join the British Army following the declaration of war in 1914.

He was awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions during the Battle of the Somme in July 1916.

The medal, which has been displayed at the Green Howards Museum in Richmond, was sold by Spink on November 25 2010.

Donald Bell was born in Harrogate in 1890 and attended the local Grammar School and Westminster College in London.

He was a passionate football player and played for Crystal Palace as an amateur whilst in London.

Bell took up a teaching career in 1911 and returned to Yorkshire after gaining a post at Starbeck School but he continued as an amateur footballer, playing with Newcastle United.

He signed as a professional player with Bradford Park Avenue and made his debut for the club in 1913. He was a key member of the team which helped win promotion from the second-division for Bradford.

The Great War

Bell joined up following the outbreak of the Great War in 1914. He is considered to have been the first professional footballer to volunteer.

Initially he served as a Private with the 9th Battalion, The Yorkshire Regiment (The Green Howards) but he quickly gained promotion and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the regiment in 1915.

During the Battle of The Somme, Bell's battalion was ordered to capture an enemy position that was known as Horseshoe Trench near La Boiselle.

He attacked a German machine gun position, running through open ground and then shooting the gunner and blowing up the position with Mills bombs.

It was this action that led to him being recommended for a medal.

Bell would never know that he'd been awarded the the Victoria Cross for his actions as five days later he was killed, following an attack on another German position at Contalmaison.

His Victoria Cross was presented to his widow by King George V in a private ceremony in the ballroom of Buckingham Palace on the 13 December 1916.

In July 2000, a permanent memorial was unveiled at the spot where he fell which is still known locally as Bell's Redoubt.

The memorial is sponsored by the Professional Footballers' Association in memory of 'The First English Professional Footballer to enlist in 1914 and the only Professional Footballer to be awarded the Victoria Cross.'

His medal was auctioned at the Spink saleroom, in London, on November 25 2010 and fetched a price of Ł210,000.

Donald Simpson Bell VC (3 December 1890 – 10 July 1916) was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross.

When World War I broke out, he became the first professional footballer to enlist into the British Army – joining the West Yorkshire Regiment in 1915. He was rapidly promoted to Lance Corporal and then was commissioned into the 9th Battalion, The Yorkshire Regiment (Alexandra, Princess of Wales' Own) in 1915. He was awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions on 5 July 1916 at Horseshoe Trench, Somme, France. He was killed in action on 10 July 1916.

For most conspicuous bravery. During an attack a very heavy enfilade fire was opened on the attacking company by a hostile machine gun. 2nd Lt. Bell immediately, and on his own initiative, crept up a communication trench and then, followed by Corpl. Colwill and Pte. Batey, rushed across the open under very heavy fire and attacked the machine gun, shooting the firer with his revolver, and destroying gun and personnel with bombs. This very brave act saved many lives and ensured the success of the attack. Five days later this very gallant officer lost his life performing a very similar act of bravery.

SPEECH OF PREMIER BRIAND ON THE PEACE PROPOSALS IN THE FRENCH CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES, December 13, 1916

[TRANSLATION]

It is after proclaiming her victory on every front that Germany,
feeling that she can not win, throws out to us certain phrases about
which I can not refrain from making a few remarks.

You have read the speech of Mr. von Bethmann-Hollweg, the
Chancellor of the German Empire. On this speech, of which I have
not yet received the official text, I can not express myself officially.
These so-called proposals have not yet been presented to any of the
Governments, and it is rather doubtful whether, under existing condi-
tions, those who have been asked to act as intermediaries will accept
so delicate a task, which may disturb many a conscience.

On this as on all matters I can not express an official opinion until
we and our allies have thoroughly considered and discussed the ques-
tion, and reached a full and complete agreement. But I have the
right, indeed the duty, to warn you against this possible poisoning of
our country.

When I see Germany arming herself to the teeth, mobilizing her
entire civil population at the risk of destroying her commerce and her
industries, of breaking up her homes of which she is so proud; when
I see the fires of all her factories burning red in the manufacture of
war material; when I see her, in contravention of the law of nations,
conscripting men in their own countries and forcing them to work for
her, if I did not warn my country, I should be culpable indeed!

Observe, gentlemen, that what they are sending us from over there
is an invitation to discuss peace. It is extended to us under conditions
that are well known to you: Belgium invaded, Serbia invaded, Rou-
mania invaded, ten of our Departments invaded! This invitation is
in vague and obscure terms, in high-sounding words to mislead the
minds, to stir the conscience, and to trouble the hearts of peoples who
mourn for their countless dead. Gentlemen, this is a crucial moment.
I discern in these declarations the same cry of conscience, ever striving
to deceive neutrals and perhaps also to blind the eyes of those among
the German people whose vision is still unimpaired. "It was not
we," say these declarations, "who let loose this horrible war."

There is one cry constantly on German lips: "We were attacked;
we are defending ourselves; we are the victims!" To this cry I make
answer for the hundredth time: "No; you are the aggressors; no
matter what you may say, the facts are there to prove it. The blood
is on your heads, not on ours."

Furthermore, the circumstances in which these proposals are made
are such that I have the right to denounce them as a crafty move, a
clumsy snare. When, after reading words like the following, "We
wish to give to our peoples every liberty they need, every opportunity
to live and to prosper that they may desire," I note in the same docu-
ment that what our enemies so generously offer to other nations* is a
sort of charitable promise not to crush them, not to annihilate them,
I exclaim: "Is that what they dare to offer, after the Marne, after
the Yser, after Verdun, to France who stands before them glorious
in her strength?"

We must think over a document like that; we must consider what
it represents at the moment it is thrown at the world and what its
aim is.

The things I am telling you are merely my personal impressions. I
would not be talking thus, were it not my duty to put my country on
her guard against what might bring about her demoralization. It is
not that I doubt her clear-sightedness or her perspicacity. I am
quite sure that she will not allow herself to be duped. But, never-
theless, even before the proposals are officially laid before us, I have
the right to say to you that they are merely a ruse, an attempt to
weaken the bonds of our alliance, to trouble the conscience and to
undermine the courage of our people.

Therefore, gentlemen, with apologies for having spoken at such
length--but you will not reproach me for having taken up this question
--I conclude with the statement that the French Republic will do no
less now than did the Convention, under similar circumstances, at an
earlier period of our history.

(...) There was a total of 39 dental officers and one QM, plus other ranks in Egypt in March 1916. They were fully equipped to a standard scale and the dental sections were allotted to medical units from field ambulances to general hospitals. There was a depot of medical and dental Stores as well.

The DGMS, Major General Howes ensured that dental sections embarked with field ambulances so these were the first dental sections of the British Army to be allowed to enter France as part of the recognised establishment of a field ambulance. It was not until 13th December 1916 that the DMS appointed Captain Marshall (as major) to act as dental adviser on his staff. Major Marshall took up duties at AIF Administrative HQ London. His duties included supervision of the dental services in FRANCE . (...)

As far as it is possible to get from the killing fields of Western Europe, German World War I raiders sailed to the South Pacific in pursuit of enemy ships.

On 23 December 1916, the square-rigger Seeadler, fitted with an auxiliary engine, broke through the British blockade of German ports disguised as a Norwegian trading vessel. Commanded by Count Felix von Luckner, she was bound for the South Pacific via the Atlantic Ocean. Her mission was to disrupt the sea-bound commerce of Britain and her allies.

By mid 1917 Seeadler had sunk 14 ships, captured their crews and relieved them of some 43,000 tons of cargo. The men aboard were looking forward to some respite from life at sea, and any coral island would do. On 31 July Seeadler made Maupelia Atoll in the Society Islands. Here was an almost deserted ring of islets where the men could rest before their South Pacific campaign continued. But this atoll had no safe anchorage, and they had to moor their ship outside the reef, ropes securing it to coconut trees ashore.

Shipwrecked on Maupelia Atoll

Three days after arrival at Maupelia, while von Luckner and most of his men were ashore, the wind suddenly shifted, driving Seeadler onto the coral reef. She was stuck fast, pounded by the rising swell and in danger of breaking up. Destined to be shipwrecked, Seeadler’s crew stripped her of provisions and salvaged all the useful equipment they could, setting up camps for themselves and their prisoners - mostly the crews of American ships that had been taken since entering the Pacific.

To von Luckner, escape from Maupelia meant nothing short of seizing another ship to continue his mission. On 23 August he set sail in one of Seeadler’s boats with a crew of five, bound firstly for the Cook Islands. Reaching Atua and then sailing on to Aitutaki, they could find no suitable ship to capture, but were able to fool officials into allowing them to reprovision and sail on. By mid September they were in Fiji, where their luck ran out on Wakaya Island. Arrested and taken to Suva, von Luckner and his men were transferred to New Zealand, arriving on 7 October for internment at Motuihe Island near Auckland.

Motuihe was a naval facility with accommodation to house German civilians captured when New Zealand forces took Apia, Samoa at the outbreak of war. In contrast to Wellington’s Somes Island, security on Motuihe was lax. Internees had the run of the island, even being rewarded with trips to Auckland on occasion. It was not set up to contain prisoners of war, and in no time von Luckner was engaged in a plan for escape.

Von Luckner’s Escape from Motuihe Island

On the evening 13 December 1917 Felix von Luckner and ten compatriots stole the Pearl, a launch owned by Motuihe commandant Lieutenant Cornel Turner. Sailing east for open water, their first task was to find a larger vessel on which they could reach the Kermadec Islands, where the NZ government maintained stores, before moving on for Maupelia to retrieve their crew, and ultimately Germany.

Near the Mercury Islands on 16 December, von Luckner’s men sighted the scows Moa and Rangi, bound for the port of Auckland loaded with logs. Their plan was to capture both vessels, but only the Moa could be overtaken. Captain William Bourke was ordered to make for the Kermadecs, where the vessel arrived on 21 December.

By this time a flotilla of government and private craft were out searching for the escapees, and with the Rangi’s crew having raised the alarm, they were on the lookout for the Moa. The government ship Iris, with a detachment of gunners aboard, had left Auckland on 16th, correctly surmising that von Luckner would seek out the Kermadec stores. The Iris arrived at the Kermadecs ahead of the Moa, and was searching the islands when the scow came in sight.

Seeing the steamer’s smoke from a distance but unable to run and hide due to a lack of wind, the Moa was captured after a shot across her bows. Count Felix von Luckner was soon back in Auckland, this time interned in Mt Eden Prison along with his lieutenant Carl Kircheiss, who had been with him throughout his adventures. While other escapees were sent to Somes Island, von Luckner and Kircheiss did time on Ripapa Island in Lyttleton Harbour. In May 1918 they were returned to a now very different, much more secure Motuihe.

The Famous Sea Devil of World War One

Back on Maupelia, the rest of the Von Luckner’s crew were eventually able to seize a ship and make it to Easter Island, then Chile. Relieved of their German guards, the island's prisoners were rescued after some of their number took a small boat to Pago Pago to raise the alarm.

Seeadler was the last sailing ship ever to be commissioned as a warship. Von Luckner liked to pronounce that during his time in command of the raider there was no loss of life as a result of his actions. One fatal accident was conveniently overlooked in his summation, but the Sea Devil’s methods were calculated to minimise harm nevertheless, and he treated captives well. His exploits in New Zealand, his penchant for publicity and his ability to embarrass military leaders made him something of a folk hero for a while.

In 1938 Von Luckner returned to New Zealand on a world tour that grew in controversy as World War II approached. He was increasingly seen as part of the Nazi propaganda machine, something he denied. Felix von Luckner spent his later years in Malmo, Sweden, his wife’s hometown, and died there in 1966.

Alick Sawyer was a pupil at the school between 1906 and 1910 and having left moved overseas to work as a farmer.

His service record paints a picture of a man well suited to the tough outdoor life, well over 6 feet tall and over 100kgs in weight, he appears to have been a bear of a man.

Before the war he served with the Denbighshire Hussars, and at the outbreak of war rejoined them, before transferring on commission to the machine gun corps.

He was horrifically injured whilst serving near Pilkem Ridge in Belgium and was transferred to a base hospital on the coast, and his service records contains the tragic correspondance between his mother and the war office, where army bureaucracy prevented a mother from saying her final goodbyes to her son.

The Sawyers received a telegram from the War Office informing that their son had been severely wounded on the 28th November 1917. Mrs Sawyer immediately telegrammed requesting a travel warrant to visit France with Sawyers younger sister. The War Office replied saying that travel warrants could only be provided for immediate family, and his sister did not qualify, therefore the application would have to be re-submitted.

Mrs Sawyer then returned the necessary forms, only for the War Office to send them back, requesting a further signature that had been missed from the original form. This was duly returned to the War Office who once again sent it back as the money order sent by Mrs Sawyer was 1 pence short. The War Office finally telegrammed back on the 11th December to say that the travel warrant would be despatched.

A final telegram arrived on the 13th instructing the family that the travel warrant would not be issued, as their son was dead.

This has to be one of the saddest service records I have been fortunate enough to read.

Thursday, 13 December 1917, and a small launch moved out to intercept a large sailing vessel off Mercury Island near Auckland; but those on the launch considered her not big enough for their get-away. Then a slightly larger vessel appeared astern of the first. To those on the launch this was just what the doctor ordered. The crew of the first ship, the timber scow Rangi, watched the launch approach the second scow. Rangi's master, Captain Jack Francis and his crew, saw the launch stop the second scow which those on the launch boarded; the first man to board carried a rifle, hand grenade and a flag made from four bags. Jack Francis made port fast despite his cargo of logs on deck and reported to the search authorities the capture at sea of the second scow. They were later told that they had seen Count Felix von Luckner who was master of the Auxiliary Sailing Raider, Sea Adler. Von Luckner had been imprisoned on Motoihi Island in the Hauraki Gulf. His escape from the island with nine others in the prison governor's launch, the Pearl had started a large search in and around Auckland and the Hauraki Gulf. The ship that von Luckner had captured was the Auckland registered timber scow, the Moa. Her master was Captain William Bourke, ex Royal Navy.

Nothing has occurred since your last letter that would have been worth communicating. Only now can I report a few new things.

Dr. Lévy's efforts were successful in freeing me from the hospital in Ujpest. I was reassigned to the Maria-Valeria Hospital, where I also served earlier and where Dr. Lévy is acting commandant. It is much more comfortable here; it is not so terribly far away here, and I am rid of a pedantic, annoying commandant. As an advantage of being transferred I must also consider the fact that I no longer have to serve along with that half-crazy half-swindler Dr. Gonda (our photographer from Csorba). No matter how skillfully he carries out his suggestion cures, his ignorance and his megalomania were becoming well-nigh unbearable to me.—I would already be content if I could wait out the war's end in my present assignment. (...)

On this day in 1918, President Woodrow Wilson arrives in France to take part in World War I peace negotiations and to promote his plan for a League of Nations, an international organization for resolving conflicts between nations.

Wilson had initially tried to keep America out of the war by claiming neutrality in 1914, when hostilities broke out in Europe. The 1915 sinking of the Lusitania, a passenger ship carrying American citizens, and Germany's expansion of submarine warfare into the Atlantic, fueled increasing U.S. anger toward Germany. However, it wasn't until March 1917, when a telegram from Germany to Mexico proposing an alliance between the two countries was made public that Wilson decided to ask Congress to declare war on Germany, which he did in early April. American troops later joined their British and French allies in fighting the Central Powers until an armistice was reached in November 1918.

The war, in which approximately 320,000 American soldiers died, grimly illustrated to Wilson the unavoidable relationship between international stability and American national security. In January 1918, Wilson outlined a plan for a League of Nations, which he hoped would peacefully arbitrate international conflicts and prevent another war like the one just ended. Wilson took this plan with him to France in December 1918 and reiterated what he had told Americans in a January speech: "the world [must] be made fit and safe to live in; and particularly that it be made safe for every peace-loving nation which, like our own, wishes to live its own life, determine its own institutions, be assured of justice and fair dealing by the other peoples of the world as against force and selfish aggression."

Wilson's treaty negotiations in Europe set the tone for post-war American foreign diplomacy, which emphasized intervention over isolation, and introduced the idea of a multi-national peace organization. The League of Nations failed, largely as a result of the fact that the U.S. decided not to join, but it was the precursor to the United Nations, which was established in the wake of the Second World War.

Wyndham Lewis endeavours to show the war in terms of energy - Battery Shelled - in which the symbolism dominates, in which men lose their human form in action; chimneys wave and bend, and the very shells zigzag in lumps and masses across the sky.

Daily Telegraph, December 13, 1915: Lord Derby's recruitment scheme is pronounced successful as it comes to an end

“The whole country will learn with extreme pleasure that Lord Derby’s scheme has been a pronounced success.”

Despite a lack of official figures, a report on page 9 said that there was “good ground for the belief” that the scheme had brought in numbers which had “vastly exceeded estimates” and was “a great triumph for the voluntary system of recruiting.” Below this Derby himself thanked the Press for their assistance, and considering the vast amount of coverage the Telegraph had given to this (again there were a number of articles on pages 9 and 10 on what was happening) it was probably well-earned. A picture on page 3 showing massed men in Camberwell heading for the recruiting office added to the positivity generated in today’s paper towards the scheme’s effectiveness. But would it be enough?

Mind you, some of the arguments used by recruiters seemed rather odd. An American journalist on page 11 gave an example of a recruiting sergeant saying the Allies would win because whilst the Germans had spent the time since the start of the war trying to win and failing to do so, the Allies had been trying to lose in the same period and couldn’t. Hardly a ringing endorsement of his superiors!

The Manhattan society ice skating craze of 1915 seems to have hit Connecticut hard. This lovely leather skating costume was featured quite prominently on the fashion pages of the December 13Bridgeport Evening Farmer of that year, occupying enough vertical inches to fill the bottom half of the page. Reports of ice skating outings were also a regular feature of the society news. We learn that the historic Brooklawn Country Club in Fairfield opened its pond to well-off youth on December 14, 1915 and was expected to be soon crowded with “the young flower of society” engaged in “the most exhilarating of winter sports.” News about the skating of the upper crust, of course, contributed to this type of recreation becoming a mass popular entertainment as well. For example, the Farmer reports that on Dec. 13, three thousand persons skated at Bruce’s pond beginning from 1:00 p.m. in the afternoon and many remained until late that night.

On December 13, 1915, the Elizabeth City Oil and Fertilizer Company repurposed equipment to generate the nation’s first commercially-processed soybean oil. The modified machine was originally designed to produce cottonseed oil and cotton by-products.

Originally from China, soybeans first came to America as ballast in sailing ships. Around 1870, farmers in northeastern North Carolina began growing them as livestock food and fertilizer. After boll weevils—a type of beetle—infested the South’s cotton crops in the early 1900s, an increasing number of Tar Heel farmers turned to soybean production.

By 1915, the state had become the nation’s top soybean producer. World War I sparked an interest in soybean oil for industrial products and, with cottonseed mills looking for ways to stay in business, soybean processing seemed to be a sensible solution. After the experiment in Elizabeth City proved successful, other cottonseed mills in North Carolina also began crushing soybeans.

The French government awarded the 369th Infrantry regiment (known as the Harlem Hellfighters) the Croix de Guerre with silver star for the taking of Séchault. It was pinned to the colors by General Lebouc at a ceremony in Germany.

The 369th Infantry Regiment, formerly the 15th New York National Guard Regiment, was an infantry regiment of the United States Army that saw action in World War I and World War II. The 369th Infantry is known for being the 1st African-American and Puerto Rican regiment to serve with the American Expeditionary Force during World War I.

The regiment was nicknamed the Harlem Hellfighters and the Black Rattlers, in addition to several other nicknames. One of these nicknames they gave themselves, which was “Men of Bronze”.

4-page handwritten letter with envelope; Kemery informed "Ones" that his regiment moved about six miles from their "mud-hole in the woods" to a very comfortable quarter where they would stay for about three weeks; was happy to receive the election news.